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Termómetro urbano y una ciudad bajo un sol abrasador con ondas de calor en el aire
Imagen generada alusiva a la ola de temperaturas extremas récord. · EPM

Extreme heat streak to continue as strong El Niño looms into 2027

A climate update warns that the streak of exceptional temperatures will continue and that a very strong El Niño, the strongest on record by December, will…

--- The context --- This year's state of the climate update was released ahead of the talks planned in Türkiye and describes a planet setting records at the same time for temperature, ocean heat and sea level. --- The facts --- According to the report, the past 12 years have individually been the warmest on record, with the past four years topping the list. The global average temperature from January to September was approximately 1.47°C above the pre-industrial average, and it is expected to keep rising because of El Niño, spreading since August and set by December to be the strongest on record. --- The facts --- In April, roughly 146.5 million people in India were exposed to an extreme heatwave reaching 47℃. In Europe, provisional excess mortality over the summer exceeded 30,000 people, with about 16,000 estimated in the late June heatwave alone. In late August, a Himalayan glacier collapse triggered a flash flood that killed more than 1,300 people in Nepal. --- The facts --- Around 90 per cent of the excess heat is absorbed by the ocean, and this year is on track to be the tenth consecutive year of record ocean warmth, with sea level at its highest on record. Glaciers lost more than 400 gigatons, about 1 mm of sea level rise, and the ice lost would fill five Olympic swimming pools every second. Greenhouse gases hit a record: carbon dioxide up 53 per cent from its historic reference, methane up 167 per cent and nitrous oxide up 26 per cent, while 42 per cent of the assessed land water area fell below normal. --- The positions --- Celeste Saulo, the meteorological organization's secretary-general, explained in attributed remarks that El Niño does not add new heat but releases heat from the warmest ocean ever measured, and she warned it will act as a risk multiplier. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the world has entered a new age of climate extremes, that human costs keep rising and that those least responsible suffer first and worst, and he urged faster emissions cuts, a faster transition and funds and protection for vulnerable countries. --- What remains unknown --- The full reach of this El Niño across rainfall, harvests and health in each region is not yet known. The health organization classified its expected health impacts as a health emergency for the first time, and the report warns of risks for agriculture where food insecurity is high. The final report is due in March next year. --- Unanswered questions --- How will the most vulnerable countries prepare for an El Niño described as the strongest on record? Will the promised funds and protection reach those already suffering the extremes first? Can health and farming systems adapt to a pace of records that keeps accelerating? --- EPM analysis --- The report connects data often viewed separately: surface heat, heat stored in the ocean, glacier loss and shrinking land water form a single chain. When the ocean releases that stored heat, risk does not simply add up, it multiplies, and the bill is paid first by communities with the least room to protect themselves. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, this report requires El Niño to be seen not as a passing episode but as a test of preparation for households, hospitals, farmers and governments starting from an already superheated planet. The difference between one more record and an avoidable catastrophe will lie in anticipation, in protection funded on time and in decisions taken before the next heatwave, not after counting its victims among the most exposed and vulnerable communities.
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